§ Dr. StrangTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what according to(a) the most up-to-date and comprehensive data he has available and (b) the farm business survey, was the average number of (1) beef cows and (2) ewes, carried on less-favoured areas livestock farms, by county and in Northern Ireland.
§ Mr. AncramThe farm business survey does not cover very small farms and data from it are not available at county level. The only farm type identified by its less-favoured area status is that on which cattle and sheep are the dominant enterprises. For farms in these categories in the 1992–93 survey the average number of beef cows was 34 and the average number of ewes was 155.
In the June 1993 agricultural census in Northern Ireland, the average number of beef cows and ewes on all cattle and sheep LFA holdings in the less-favoured areas were: 1053W
All cattle and sheep LFA farms Average number per farm County Beef cows Ewes Antrim 17 102 Armagh 11 21 Down 10 67 Fermanagh 18 19 Londonderry 14 101 Tyrone 13 53 Northern Ireland 14 58 For farms similar to those covered in the farm business survey, the average number of beef cows was 27 and the average number of ewes was 126.